Would opening additional charter schools help?
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A: If the legislature lifts the cap on charter schools, it would barely make a dent considering more than 7,000 new students enroll in the Wake County Public School System a year. WCPSS's first priority must be ensuring the strength of the school system that serves the vast majority of students in Wake County.
In 2004-05 only two of the 14 charter schools in Wake County served more than 600 students, and 20 percent of the students in those two schools came from outside of Wake County. The median size of a Wake County charter school in 2004-05 was 197 and the average size was 324. Finally, as noted in the report of entries and exits from the Wake County Public School System during the past year, while WCPSS sent 442 students out to charter schools last year, 495 entered WCPSS from charter schools.